Meniscus injuries

By LB-Admin

Here you can read about meniscus injuries and their treatment

Meniscus injuries

Maybe you’ve injured your knee or suffered a knee injury? Have you suffered a meniscus injury? Right now you just want to know if you have a meniscus injury or not? You may also want to know how to treat a meniscus injury. You can either sit back and leave it to the therapist, but sometimes it pays to do a little more research. Read more below or google further if you can’t be bothered to read that much.

What is a meniscus?

In the knee, you have an inner and an outer meniscus, and these act as shock absorbers. Menisci are a cross between cartilage and ligaments. The menisci help distribute the loads between the femoral and tibial bones. Menisci, like so many other things, can be damaged. There are many types of meniscus injuries depending on how they occur. The treatment of different meniscus injuries is different.

How does a meniscus injury occur?

Typically, the injury occurs in connection with a twisted knee, but injuries can also occur more spontaneously when running or squatting. Meniscus injury is probably the most common knee injury. If the injury is caused by a twist, treatment will most often be surgical. If the meniscus injury has occurred without a twist and simply because the meniscus has become tender over time, treatment will most often be physiotherapy.

Symptoms of a meniscus injury?

What are the symptoms of a meniscus injury? It is typically pain in the knee that is aggravated by strain. Turns in particular can be a problem. It can feel like a pinch or a sharp pain. See below for some of the symptoms of having a meniscus injury that may fit the discomfort you’re experiencing.

Pain on the joint line
Stiffness and reduced mobility
swelling
feeling of not being able to fully trust your knee

feeling of clicking and something sometimes getting stuck
sometimes the knee gives way
Tendency for the knee to lock

How is a meniscus injury diagnosed?

First of all, an examination of your knee, in conjunction with your history, can give you a good indication of whether you have a meniscus injury. In the vast majority of cases, however, we perform an MRI scan of your knee, which has a 90% probability of making the diagnosis. An ultrasound scan is too uncertain.

Keyhole surgery = arthroscopy

Perhaps your meniscus injury requires telescopic surgery. It’s a small operation where in principle 2 things can be done. Either you have the damaged area of the meniscus removed. This is done with a small pair of scissors and a shaver that smooths the meniscus. The second option is a kind of stitching of the damage. Different types of meniscus stitching, meniscus anchors or meniscus root fixation are used. A meniscus surgery costs around 17,800 kr.

Physiotherapy and meniscus injuries

If you are around 40 years old or older, not all meniscus injuries require surgery. Especially if there is no obvious twist in the knee. The discomfort may resolve itself over time, possibly in combination with a blockade (steroid injection) and rehabilitation. This type of meniscus damage is also known as degenerative meniscus damage. However, it’s important that you don’t have a meniscus injury. These are particularly common in middle-aged people and often occur suddenly. You can read more below.

Meniscus root injuries

If you have a meniscus injury, you should have surgery. Meniscal injuries occur suddenly when there is a sharp blow to the knee. With a meniscal injury, the meniscus loses its entire function as a shock absorber. This causes pain and unnecessary wear on the cartilage. Meniscal damage can be seen on an MRI scan of the knee. Approximately 75% of those with a meniscal injury who do not undergo surgery will have received a knee replacement 5 years after the injury… Read more here or here or here or here or here

Meniscus root injury as seen in a arthroscopic surgery before and after repair

Meniscus root injury as seen on an MRI scan, which also shows the meniscus slipping over the tibia

Meniscus ramp lesion – or meniscus rim lesion

Ramp lesions are small injuries to the meniscus between the capsule and the meniscus itself. These are lesions that commonly occur in association with a

cruciate ligament injury

. It may be impossible to see on

MRI scan

. These injuries are often missed during arthroscopic surgery if the surgeon doesn’t routinely look in the back of the knee, which is difficult to access.

Meniscus transplantation

Meniscus transplants are currently available in selected situations. Either artificial menisci or allografts (deceased menisci) are used. If you are young and have had a large part of the meniscus removed and are experiencing strain-related knee pain, a meniscus transplant may be a good solution.

Meniscus injuries and
cruciate ligament injuries

Meniscus injuries and ACL injuries are unfortunately often linked. My opinion is that in these situations, you might as well have a simultaneous ACL reconstruction or ACL repair. If you still need surgery for the meniscus injury, it’s a good idea to do something about the cruciate ligament as well. This means you only need surgery once. If you need stitches for your meniscus injury, you should also have your knee stabilized with a cruciate ligament reconstruction. If not, the risk of the damage reoccurring increases.